917.731 

C4311p 

1882 


•H 

I^HN 
HHHn 


LIBRARY  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 

IN  MEMORY  OF 

STEWART  S.  HOWE 

JOURNALISM  CLASS  OF  1928 


STEWART  S.  HOWE  FOUNDATION 

917.731 

C4311p 

1882 


I.H.S. 


©HIGAGO  GNGI^AVING  ©OMPANY, 

CHICAGO. 


THIRD     EDITION. 


COPYRIGHT    1879    and    1882. 
All   Rights   Reserved. 


C<43Hp 


ENTRANCE    TO     HARBOR. 


(9HIGAGO. 

fHILE  Chicago  has  its  "picturesque"  side,  it  is  essentially  "Heroic,"  and  a  truth- 
ful sketch  of  its  rise  and  progress  must  necessarily  receive  heroic  treatment. 
Other  cities  have  originated  and  grown  on  account  of  the  picturesqueness  of 
the  sites  on  which  they  were  located,  and  the  business,  which  represents  the 
heroic  side  of  cities,  has  come  to  them  subsequently,  as  an  accompaniment  to 
the  picturesque,  but  Chicago  presents  the  reverse  of  this  order.  Her  site  lay  in 
the  pathway  of  an  immense  commercial  traffic,  that,  half  a  century  ago,  was  to 
be.  Naturally,  there  was  little  to  commend  it  to  the  few  adventurous  spirits 
who  first,  literally,  "drove  their  stakes."  and  erected  their  tents  along  the  low 
margins  of  the  sluggish  stream,  whose  waters,  with  difficulty,  found  a  devious 
way  to  the  broad  Lake,  in  whose  bosom  they  were  to  be  lost.  Nor  were  those 
early  settlers  gifted  with  any  unusual  foresight,  which  enabled  them  to  lift  the 
veil  of  the  future,  and  solace  themselves  in  their  present  hardships,  with  a 
glimpse  of  the  glories  that  awaited  them,  or  their  children,  in  the  not  distant  years  to  come.  They  were 
simply  the  pioneers  who  were  to  lay  the  foundations  of  "  the  promised  land,"  of  which  but  few  were  to 
enter  upon  and  enjoy,  as  a  reward  for  pioneer  work.  In  the  olden  times,  fifty  years  was  but  a  brief  period 
in  the  growth  of  nations  and  empires ;  to-day  it  represents  the  accomplishment  of  the  work  of  former  centu 
ries.  Thus  Chicago  can  be  compared  with  no  cities  of  the  Old  World. 

The  first  settlement  of  Chicago  may  be  dated  in  1832,  or  just  half  a  century  ago.  A  small  fort  had  been 
erected  near  the  mouth  of  the  Chicago  River,  and  the  General  Government  had  surveyed  and  located  the 
"Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal"  to  connect  the  waters  of  the  Illinois  River  with  those  of  Lake  Michigan,  and 


COPYRIGHT. 


COURT    HOUSE. 


made  a  grant  of  land  to  aid  in  its  construction.  These  preliminary  steps  had  attracted  immigration,  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  the  present  city  of  Chicago.  The  settlers  found  a  low,  wet  prairie,  or  marsh,  with  here  and 
there  slightly  elevated  plats  that  served  for  building  sites  and  gardens.  It  was  not  until  1833  that  the  village 
was  organized,  the  vote  in  favor  of  incorporation  standing  eleven  to  one,  which  comprised  all  the  eligible 
voters  at  that  time.  Later  in  the  same  season,  the  number  of  voters  had  increased  to  twenty-eight. 

The  early  growth  of  Chicago  was  not  phenomenal.  There  was  nothing  in  the  town  site  itself,  nor  in  its 
surroundings  to  attract  immigration.  On  the  contrary,  there  were  many  repulsive  features.  The  broad 
marshes,  which  not  only  surrounded,  but  constituted  a  goodly  portion  of  the  incipient  town  itself,  offered  few 
attractions  to  the  early  pioneers,  who  were  mostly  farmers  seeking  new  farm  homes  in  the  "far  West."  And 
then  there  were  the  Indians  —  sometimes  friendly,  sometimes  hostile,  but  always  treacherous  and  unreliable  — 
to  act  as  a  drawback,  and  in  various  ways  to  retard  the  growth  of  the  settlement.  But,  as  has  well  been  said, 
"there  is  a  Divinity  that  shapes  our  ends,  rough  hew  them  how  we  will."  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  most 
hopeful  or  visionary  of  those  early  settlers  ever  dreamed  of  what  the  next  half  century  was  to  bring  forth,  for  the 
town,  they  had  voted  to  incorporate.  Even  from  a  commercial  point  of  view,  there  was  everything  to  discour- 
age. The  vast  stretch  of  low  prairie,  n.ot  to  say  marsh,  that  surrounded  the  town,  effectually  cut  them  off  from 
the  interior  settlements  for  a  greater  or  less  portion  of  the  year.  The  construction  of  highways,  by  which  the 
products  of  the  farmers  of  the  interior  could  find  their  way  to  Chicago  as  a  port  of  shipment,  was  an  Herculean 
task  and  was  hardly  undertaken  for  years.  But  still  the  town  grew.  In  1834  the  first  store  was  erected  south 
of  the  river,  or  in  what  is  now  the  "  South-Division."  This  was  on  Lake  Street,  and  for  many  years  after,  that 
constituted  the  main  business  thoroughfare  of  the  city. 

In  1837  Chicago  was  incorporated  as  a  city,  with  a  population  of  4  170  souls,  all  told.  It  is  to  be  supposed 
that  its  citizens  fully  appreciated  the  added  dignity  of  being  denizens  of  a  real  city,  though  the  historian  does 
not  record  the  exact  date  when  they  actually  "  put  on  city  airs."  The  first  United  States  census  of  the  city  was 
taken  in  1840,  when  the  population  was  4,479.  The  city  was  then,  as  a  settlement,  eight  years  old.  Up  to  this 


THE    PAVILION    IN    HUMBOLDT    PARK. 


time,  the  progress  of  the  town  had  nothing  in  it  suggestive  of  the  future,  either  in  population  or  commercial 
growth.  Its  commerce  was  confined  to  exchanges  with  the  surrounding  settlements  within  '•  hauling  distance." 
But  already  the  wonderful  productiveness  of  Illinois  prairies  had  become  pretty  generally  known,  and  the 
foundations  for  the  greatest  primary  grain  and  provision  market  in  the  world  had  actually  been  laid,  through 
the  medium  of  what  were  then  known  as  "prairie  schooners,"  the  large  covered  wagons  that  brought  in  the 
products  of  the  farm  and  freighted  back  the  "store  goods"  to  be  distributed  to  the  interior  country  towns. 
But  few  at  that  time  appreciated  the  fact,  for  Chicago  city  property  was  at  a  low  ebb,  and  many  a  possible  for- 
tune was  disposed  of  "  for  a  song"  that  its  owner  might  be  enabled  to  seek  some  more  promising  locality. 

In  spite  of  all  disadvantages,  the  city  grew.  Was  it  the  hand  of  Fate?  The  State  census  in  1845  showed  a 
population  of  12,088,  not  quite  trebling  in  five  years.  Another  half  decade  showed  an  equal  increase,  the 
United  States  census  in  1850  disclosing  a  population  of  29,963  — in  round  numbers,  30,000!  In  the  meantime, 
the  canal  had  been  completed,  and  for  about  two  years  had  been  pouring  into  Chicago  granaries  the  wealth  of 
the  Illinois  valley  farms.  Lake  commerce  had  attained  to  fair  proportions,  and  regular  lines  of  "  upper  lake 
steamers  "  unloaded  immense  cargoes  of  merchandise  and  passengers,  and  reloaded  with  equally  rich  cargoes  of 
grain  and  provisions  for  the  Eastern  markets.  The  wonderful  railroad  system  that  has  since  contributed  to  the 
expansion  of  Chicago's  commercial  greatness  was  then  in  embryo.  The  Galena  road,  the  only  railroad  ever 
built  "out  of  Chicago,"  had  reached  Elgin,  and  was  bringing  in  the  products  of  the  Pox  River  valley.  Two 
lines  from  the  East,  the  Michigan  Central  and  the  Michigan  Southern,  were  in  active  rivalry  to  see  which 
should  first  reach  Chicago,  and  the  Illinois  Central  was  in  course  of  construction  to  reach  the  city  from  the 
south. 

The  second  decennial  State  census  in  1855  showed  the  wonderful  influence  of  the  introduction  of  the  new 
element  of  greatness —railroads — in  a  population  of  a  round  80,000.  This  was  a  second  almost  trebling  of  pop- 
ulation in  the  brief  period  of  five  years.  The  next  half  decade  showed  but  slight  progress — the  United  States 
census  of  1860  giving  the  city  but  109,206.  For  this  comparative  standstill  there  were  several  reasons.  The 


COPYRIGHT. 


ALDINE    SQUARE. 


country  had  just  passed  through  the  financial  crisis  of  1837,  and  business  of  all  kinds  was  everywhere  at  its 
lowest  ebb.  The  finances  and  currency  of  the  country  was  in  a  very  unsatisfactory  condition.  The  bank  bills 
of  the  several  States  were  hardly  current  outside  of  the  States  in  which  they  were  issued,  and  breaking  banks 
were  creating  consternation  in  business  circles  at  alarmingly  frequent  intervals.  Our  productive  industries, 
what  few  we  had,  were  bankrupt  and  idle,  while  agricultural  products  hardly  paid  the  cost  of  growing  them. 
The  "boom"  imparted  to  the  growth  of  the  city  by  the  completion  of  several  important  lines  of  railways,  dur- 
ing the  first  half  of  the  decade,  had  no  counterpart  in  the  latter  half.  But  while  there  was  little  to  boast  of  in 
the  way  of  growth  of  population,  the  city  was  by  no  means  idle.  Many  of  the  great  improvements  which  sub- 
sequently contributed  so  much  to  its  metropolitan  character,  were  inaugurated  during  this  period.  Among 
these  was  the  raising  the  grade  of  the  city  from  six  to  tea  feet,  which  necessitated  the  lifting  of  entire  blocks  of 
stores,  hotels  and  residences  that  distance  above  their  foundations,  making  practical  our  present  system  of 
sewerage,  tunneling  the  lake  for  a  copious  supply  of  pure  water,  the  system  of  street  railways,  which  has  since 
grown  to  such  wonderful  proportions,  and  others  which  will  be  subsequently  spoken  of. 

The  third  decennial  State  census,  in  1865,  gave  the  city  a  population  of  178,492,  showing  a  fair  growth, 
considering  that  during  the  most  of  that  time  the  country  was  engaged  in  a  deadly  civil  struggle  for  its 
national  integrity,  if  not  for  its  national  existence.  Five  years  later,  1870,  the  United  States  census  gave  the 
city  a  population  of  298,977,  though  a  city  census  of  the  same  year  placed  it  at  303,605,  which  was  probably 
the  nearer  to  the  correct  number.  The  last  decennial  United  States  census  gave  the  population  of  the  city  at 
503,185,  showing  a  fair  comtnencem3nt  on  the  second  half  million.  At  the  rate  of  growth  during  the  last  half 
decade,  it  is  probably  safe  to  put  the  present  population  at  600,000.  With  this  brief  outline  of  the  early  settle- 
ment of  the  city,  it  will  be  in  order  to  refer  more  particularly  to  the  various  improvements  which  have  been 
inaugurated,  and  so  far  completed  as  to  transform  the  unsightly  and  unattractive  marsh  of  half  a  century 
ago  into  one  of  the  most  magnificent  cities,  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  wonderful  marts  of  trade  of  modern  times. 
One  of  the  first  essentials  of  all  great  cities,  in  a  sanitary  point  of  viaw,  is  a  liberal  system  of  Parks. 


STATE     STREET,     LOOKING     SOUTH     FROM     RANDOLPH. 


7T7HILE,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  Chicago  might  have  dispensed  with  this  luxury,  as  a  sanitary  measure,  her  mag- 
^-~'  nificent  Lake  front,  twelve  miles  in  extent,  assuring  her,  for  all  time,  a  pure,  invigorating  atmosphere,  she 
by  no  means  contented  herself  with  that  natural  provision.  No  American  city  to  day  can  boast  of  so  extensive 
and  munificent  a  system  of  Parks  as  Chicago.  Her  twelve  miles  of  Lake  front  is  supplemented  by  a  cordon  of 
splendid  Parks,  extending  from  the  Lake  shore  on  the  north,  around  tli3  present  city  limits  to  the  Lake  shore  on 
the  south,  all  connected  by  magnificent  boulevards,  which,  when  all  completed,  will  present  the  most  extensive, 
as  well  as  the  most  attractive,  system  of  alternate  resorts  and  driveways  to  be  found  in  the  world.  Of  the 
23,140  acres  area  of  the  city,  2,300  acres  are  devoted  to  Parks.  Space  will  not  allow  a  historical  sketch  of  the 
founding  and  improvement  of  the  several  Parks,  in  detail,  nor  is  it  needed,  in  this  brief  sketch. 

The  Parks  are  divided  into  three  systems,  each  of  which  has  its  separate  and  independent  government  in 
its  respective  Board  of  Commissioners.  LINCOLN  PARK,  in  the  North  Division,  comprises  a  tract  of  ons  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres,  lying  along  the  Lake  shore  from  North  Avenue  northward  into  the  town  of  Lake  View. 
This  is  the  oldest  of  the  large  Parks,  and  its  improvements  have  reached  the  fullest  state  of  development.  It  is 
the  nearest  to  the  business  centre  of  the  city,  and  is  probably  the  most  popular  as  a  place  of  resort.  It  is  about 
two  miles  from  the  Court  House.  Including  the  magnificent  L:ike  Shore  Drive,  it  presents  many  attractions  to 
the  visitor.  The  Pavilion  is  but  one  of  its  many  picturesque  and  charming  scenes. 

West  from  LINCOLN  PAUK  some  three  miles  is  HUMBOLDT  PARK,  the  most  northerly  of  the  West  Park 
system.  This  is  to  be  connected  with  LINCOLN  PARK  by  a  grand  boulevard  or  driveway.  Considerable  pro- 
gress has  been  made  in  the  way  of  beautifying  and  improving  this  Park,  and  it  already  forms  a  chosen  place  of 
resort  for  the  denizens  of  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  city.  Its  lakes,  drives  and  walks  present  many  var- 
ied and  charming  landscape  pictures  and  scenes.  The  Park  comprises  a  tract  of  225  acres,  and  the  plans 
comprise  some  of  the  most  elaborate  and  striking  improvements,  among  which  we  may  mention  the  "mall,"  the 
terrace,  the  monumental  fountain,  the  "mammoth  cave, "etc. 


COPTRIOHT. 


PAVILION     IN     LINCOLN     PARK. 


Running  south  and  west  from  HUMBOLDT  PARK  is  Central  Boulevard,  a  very  elaborately  designed  drive- 
way, connecting  this  with  GARFIELD  PARK.  The  northern  portion  of  this  Boulevard  is  400  feet  in  width, 
providing  for  a  central  drive,  two  side  drives,  two  equestrian  roads  and  two  sidewalks  or  pedestrian  ways,  each 
divided  from  the  other  by  rows  of  trees  and  grass  plats.  The  southern  portion  of  the  boulevard,  forming  the 
approach  to  GARFIELD  PARK,  is  250  feet  in  width,  elaborately  improved  and  decorated. 

GARFIELD  PARK  (formerly  CENTRAL),  constituting  the  center  of  the  West  Park  system,  comprises  an  area 
of  185  acres.  The  improvements  in  this  Park,  though  by  no  means  finished,  have  reached  a  fair  state  of 
perfection,  affording  many  attractive  features  and  charming  vistas.  One  of  the  notable  sights  here  is  the  "  Fire 
Monument,"  commemorative  of  the  great  conflagration  of  1871,  and  of  the  world's  generosity  on  that  occasion. 
The  landscape  architecture  of  the  Park  is  elaborate  and  beautiful,  comprising  lakes,  islands,  serpentine  canals, 
hills,  vales,  drives,  walks,  groves  and  grass  plats.  This  Park  lies  due  west  from  the  Court  House  at  a  distance 
of  about  four  miles,  and  is  reached  direct  by  Washington  Boulevard,  which  forms  its  grand  entrance.  The 
beautiful  and  enchanting  view  of  the  Lake  in  GARFIELD  PARK  is  but  one  of  its  many  attractive  vistas. 

Leading  south  from  GARFIELD  PARK  is  DOUGLAS  PARK  Boulevard,  connecting  it  with  DOUGLAS  PARK.  This 
boulevard  is  250  feet  in  width  throughout  its  entire'  length.  Its  plan  comprises  a  central  wooded  lawn  150  feet 
wide,  with  two  driveways  each  forty  feet  wide,  and  a  space  on  either  side  of  twenty  five  feet  for  trees  and  walks. 

DOUGLAS  PARK,  the  southernmost  of  the  West  Park  system,  comprises  an  area  of  180  acres,  reaching  as  far 
south  as  Nineteenth  Street.  It  is  some  four  miles,  in  a  southwesterly  direction,  from  the  Court  House,  being 
reached  direct  by  Ogden  Avenue.  The  distinctive  feature  of  this  Park  is  the  extent  of  its  ornamental  lake 
systems,  providing  ample  space  for  rowing  and  aquatic  sports.  The  principal  Lake  is  near  the  center  of  the 
Park,  from  which  arms  extend  north  and  south,  reaching  nearly  to  either  limit  of  the  Park.  This  extent 
of  water  surface  affords  ample  opportunity  for  ornamental,  rustic  and  massive  architectual  bridge  structures 
which  form  one  of  the  unique  features  of  the  Park.  Charming  island  scenery  and  waterfalls  also  add  to  the 
picturesqueness  of  the  place. 


COPYRIGHT. 


THE    LAKE     IN     GARFIELD     PARK. 


THE  SOUTH  PARK  SYSTEM,  under  the  charge  of  a  distinct  Board  of  Commissioners,  comprises  SOUTH 
PARK,  proper,  with  its  area  of  about  500  acres,  extending  from  Fifty-first  Street  on  the  north  to  Sixtieth  Street 
on  the  south,  and  lying  between  Cottage  Grove  and  Kankakee  Avenues;  EAST,  or  JACKSON  PARK,  with  an  area 
of  500  acres,  extending  from  Fifty-seventh  Street  on  the  north  to  Sixty -seventh  Street  on  the  south,  and  lying 
between  Hyde  Park  Avenue  and  the  Lake  shore;  the  middle  Plaisance,  a  water  and  driveway  600  feet  wide 
between  Sixtieth  and  Fifty-ninth  streets,  connecting  the  two  Parks,  and  Grand  and  Drexel  Boulevards  forming 
the  northern  approach  to  SOUTH  PARK.  The  improvement  of  the  SOUTH  PARK  system  was  not  commenced 
until  1874,  but  the  work  since  that  date  has  been  prosecuted  with  commendable  zeal.  Drives,  walks,  lagoons, 
lakes  and  winding  water  ways  have  been  constructed;  groves  planted  and  cultivated,  and  the  South  and 
East  Parks  now  furnish  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  charming  resorts.  The  most  noticeable  features  of  the 
SOUTH  PARK  system  are  its  two  magnificent  driveways — Grand  and  Drexel  Boulevards.  Grand  Boulevard, 
the  westernmost  of  these,  runs  from  Thirty -fifth  Street  south  to  Fifty-first  Street  where  it  forms  the  grand 
entrance  to  SOUTH  PARK.  It  is  200  feet  in  width,  the  center,  sixty  feet,  forming  a  grand  driveway  for 
recreation  only.  On  each  side  of  this  are  grass  plats  planted  with  rows  of  forest  trees.  Outside  of  these,  on 
each  side,  is  a  traffic  roadway,  each  bordered  with  a  broad  sidewalk  for  pedestrians,  the  whole  forming 
a  magnificent  boulevard,  down  through  whose  shady  vistas  the  visitor  looks  entranced.  Its  length  is 
about  two  miles.  Drexel  Boulevard  runs  parallel  with  the  Grand,  three  blocks  to  the  eastward,  commencing 
near  Thirty-ninth  Street  or  the  city  limits.  It  is  elaborately  improved,  and  is  said  to  have  been  modeled  after 
the  Avenue  L'Imperatrice,  of  Paris,  the  most  beautiful  street  in  the  world.  Drexel  Boulevard  is  200  feet  wide 
throughout  its  extent.  Ninety  feet  in  the  center  is  devoted  to  the  planting  of  forest  trees,  shrubbery, 
flower  beds  and  winding  walks,  this  central  portion  being  raised  considerably  above  the  driveways  on  each 
side,  which  are  forty  feet  in  width,  outside  of  which  are  sidewalks  fifteen  feet  in  width.  Every  block  of  the 
central  Parkway  is  distinguished  by  a  different  ornamentation — different  variety  of  trees,  shrubbery  and 
flowers.  The  Boulevard  extends  from  the  city  limits — Thirty-ninth  Street — to  Fifty -first  Street  Boulevard. 


GRAND    BOULEVARD. 


where  it  enters  SOUTH  PARK,  widening  at  the  entrance  to  400  feet.  Grand  and  Drexel  Boulevards  are 
connected  at  Fortieth  Street  by  Oakwood  Boulevard,  a  beautifully  improved  driveway,  bordered  by  broad 
grass  plats,  outside  of  which  are  finely  paved  sidewalks. 

Running  west  from  SOUTH  PARK  is  PAVILION  PARK  Way  at  Fifty -fifth  Street.  This  is  200  feet  wide  with 
a  planting  space  in  the  center  ninety  feet  in  width,  with  driveways  and  sidewalks  on  each  side,  running  west  to 
Western  Avenue,  thence  northward  to  connect  with  DOUGLAS  PARK,  completing  the  grand  cordon  of  Parks 
and  Boulevards  around  the  city. 

This  completes  the  list  of  large  Parks  which  will  furnish  to  a  city  of  even  a  million  of  inhabitants 
magnificent  resorts  for  health  and  recreation.  No  other  city  on  the  continent  can  boast  so  liberal  a  provision 
as  Chicago  in  this  respect.  In  addition  to  the  large  Parks  of  the  three  systems,  there  are  numerous  smaller 
Parks  scattered  here  and  there  in  the  residence  portions  of  the  city,  furnishing  convenient  breathing  places  and 
resorts.  Among  these  we  may  mention  UNION,  JEFFERSON  and  VERNON  PARKS  on  the  West  Side.  The  first 
named  is  the  oldest  and  most  elaborately  improved  in  the  city.  It  lies  between  Lake  and  Madison  Streets, 
north  and  south,  with  Ashland  Avenue  on  the  west  and  Ogden  Avenue  and  Bryan  Place  on  the  east. 
JEFFERSON  PARK  lies  a  few  blocks  distant  a  little  east  of  south  and  occupies  one  block.  Some  five  blocks 
south  of  the  latter  is  VERNON  PARK  of  about  the  same  size. 

In  the  South  Division  are  LAKE  PARK,  lying  between  Michigan  Avenue  and  the  Lake  shore,  extending 
from  Jackson  Street  south  to  Twelfth  Street;  GROVELAND  PARK,  south  of  Thirty-third  Street,  between 
Cottage  Grove  Avenue  and  the  Lake  shore,  and  together  with  WOODLAND  PARK  extending  south  to  Thirty- 
fifth  Street.  ELLIS  PARK  lies  between  Prospect  Place  and  Thirty-seventh  Street,  Vincennes  and  Cottage 
Grove  Avenues. 

WASHINGTON  SQUARE  in  the  North  Division  comprises  one  block  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  residence 
section.  A  large  fountain  occupies  the  center,  the  balaace  baiiig  laid  out  in  walks,  grass  plats,  and  planted 
with  forest  trees. 


DOUGLAS  &OHUHBHV. 

TN  connection  with  a  description  of  the  Parks  of  Chicago  should  come  a  brief  account  of  the  DOUGLAS 
*  MONUMENT,  erected  in  commemoration  of  the  life  and  services  of  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,  the  eminent 
patriot  and  statesman—  the  citizen  whom  for  many  years  Illinois  delighted  to  honor.  Soon  after  the  death  of 
Senator  Douglas,  in  1881,  the  question  of  the  erection  of  a  monument  suitable  to  the  greatness  of  the  eminent 
citizen,  in  the  home  of  his  adoption,  was  raised,  and  soon  thereafter  the  necessary  steps  were  taken  to 
inaugurate  the  work.  But  it  was  not  until  the  year  1878  that  the  work  was  completed,  and  the  informal 
ceremony  of  unveiling  the  statue  finally  took  place.  The  DOUGLAS  MONUMENT,  as  now  completed,  stands  in 
beautifully  improved  grounds  on  the  Lake  shore,  at  the  head  of  Douglas  Avenue  (Thirty-fifth  Street)  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  former  home  of  the  statesman,  still  known  as  the  "  Douglas  Cottage."  The 
monument  consists  of  an  octagonal  base  coping  of  limestone  seventy  feet  in  diameter.  Upon  this  are  three 
circular  bases  forming  the  substructure  of  New  England  granite,  the  first  of  which  is  a  little  over  forty-two 
feet  in  diameter,  the  height  of  the  three  together  being  four  and  a  fourth  feet.  Upon  this  substructure  is  the 
octagonal  tomb,  twenty  and  a  quarter  feet  in  diameter  and  ten  feet  in  height,  also  of  New  England  granite, 
within  which  rest  the  mortal  remains  of  the  great  Senator,  within  an  iron  casket,  which  is  placed  in  a  white 
marble  sarcophagus  lined  with  lead.  These  are  guarded  by  a  heavy  wrought  iron  grated  door,  with  padlock, 
and  an  inner  iron  safe-door  with  combination  lock.  The  pedestal  of  the  superstructure,  octagonal  in  form,  is 
fifteen  feet  in  diameter  and  nearly  nineteen  feet  high.  Upon  this  sets  the  base  of  the  column,  of  burnished 
New  England  granite,  about  forty-six  and  a  half  feet  in  height,  being  five  and  one-sixth  feet  in  diameter  at  base 
and  three  and  a  half  feet  at  the  top  The  cap  of  the  column  including  the  ornamental  frieze  and  the  statue 
base  is  six  and  a  half  feet  high.  The  colossal  bronze  statue  of  Douglas  surmounting  the  top  of  the  column, 
looking  eastward  over  the  Lake,  is  nine  feet  nine  inches  high,  making  the  entire  height  of  the  monument  nine- 
ty-five feet  nine  inches.  The  four  pedestals  at  the  base  are  occupied  by  heroic-size  bronze  statues,  representing 
Illinois,  History,  Justice  and  Eloquence  in  sitting  attitudes. 


DOUGLAS    MONUMENT. 


WATERWORKS    CRIB. 


SUPPLY. 

f  rS  tlie  next  in  importance,  in  a  sanitary  rjoint  of  view,  the  necessity  of  an  abundant  supply  of  pure  water 
j  *  had  been  felt  for  some  time,  and  it  was  finally  decided  to  draw  that  supply  from  the  bottom  of  the  Lake, 
so  far  out  as  to  avoid  all  impurities  from  the  shore.  To  do  this  required  a  tunnel  from  the  shore  under  the 
Lake  a  distance  of  two  miles.  There  a  crio  was  constructed  in  which  was  sunk  a  shaft  to  connect  with 
the  shore  tunnel.  The  tunnel  was  commenced  in  1864,  and  was  placed  eighty  feet  beneath  the  surface. 
On  the  completion  of  the  crib,  work  on  the  tunnel  was  carried  on  from  both  ends.  The  work  was  Successfully 
completed  in  three  years,  and  in  1867  water  was  distributed  through  the  city.  The  pumping  works  arc  located 
at  the  foot  of  Chicago  Avenue  near  the  Lake  shore.  The  water  let  into  the  tunnel  from  the  crib  flows  through 
it  to  the  pumping  works  whence  it  is  forced  to  the  top  of  the  water  tower  and  thence  distributed  through  the 
city  in  immense  iron  mains,  from  which  branch  off  the  smaller  water  pipes  for  street  and  house  supplies. 
In  1873  a  second  tunnel  was  commenced  extending  from  the  crib  to  near  the  corner  of  Ashland  Avenue 
and  West  Twenty-second  Street,  a  distance  of  nearly  five  miles,  three  of  which  were  under  the  city.  The  West 
Side  Pumping  Works,  at  the  southwestern  extremity  of  the  second  Lake  tunnel,  were  completed  in  1878,  since 
which  time  the  supply  of  pure  Lake  water  in  all  parts  of  the  city  has  been  abundant  and  unfailing.  Thus  the 
WATER  SUPPLY  of  Chicago  has  involved  two  really  wonderful  engineering  feats  that  have  not  their  counter- 
part in  the  Western  World.  The  North  Side  Water  Works  with  their  massive  pumping  engines,  is  one  of  the 
attractive  sights  for  visitors.  The  works  comprise  four  immense  engines,  that  in  case  of  accident  to  one,  others 
may  be  used,  that  the  supply  may  at  all  times  be  kept  good. 

Stl'HHHLS. 

/^HE  two  tunnels  under  the  Chicago  River  constitute  another  of  Chicago's  great  engineering  feats.  These 
^~'  were  undertaken  to,  in  a  measure,  relieve  the  bridges  of  a  portion  of  their  immense  traffic,  and  to  furnish 
a  means  of  connection  between  the  several  divisions  of  the  city  unobstructed  by  the  demands  of  navigation. 


COPYRIGHT 


ENGINES    NORTH     SIDE    WATERWORKS. 


The  Washington  Street  Tunnel,  under  the  South  Branch,  connecting  the  West  and  South  Divisions,  was 
commenced  in  1886,  and  was  completed  in  1868.  The  tunnel  comprises  a  double  carriage  way,  reaching  from 
Franklin  Street  on  the  South  Side  to  Clinton  Street  on  the  West  Side;  and  a  footway  with  approaches 
on  Market  and  Canal  Streets  on  opposite  sides  of  the  river.  La  Salle  Street  Tunnel,  under  the  main  river, 
connects  the  South  and  North  Divisions.  With  the  experience  acquired  in  the  construction  of  the  Washing- 
ton Street  Tunnel,  this  was  a  more  perfect  structure.  It  was  commenced  in  1869  and  completed  in  1871.  The 
South  Side  entrance  to  the  carriageway  is  at  Randolph  Street,  the  tunnel  passing  under  Lake  and  South  Water 
Streets,  and  emerging  on  the  North  Side  at  Michigan  Street  passing  under  North  Water,  and  Kinzie  Streets  on 
that  side.  The  entrance  to  the  footway  on  the  South  Side  is  near  South  Water  Street,  and  on  the  North 
Side  near  North  Water  Street.  There  is  no  leakage  in  this  tunnel,  and  both  the  carriage  and  footways  are 
always  dry  and  pleasant. 

©HIGAGO    BRIDGES. 

TH  nearly  twenty-three  miles  of  navigable  water  course  through  its  business  centers,  its  bridges 
necessarily  form  an  important  feature  in  Chicago's  internal  economy.  Altogether  there  are  twen- 
ty-four swinging  bridges.  Pour  of  these  span  the  main  river.  Rush  Street  Bridge  is  first  from  the  mouth  of 
the  river.  Following  this  west  come  State,  Clark  and  Wells  Street  Bridges.  These  connect  the  North  and 
South  Divisions  and  are  subjected  to  an  immense  traffic.  Over  the  South  Branch,  connecting  the  South  and 
West  Divisions  there  are  thirteen  bridges.  These  are  known  by  the  streets  on  which  they  occur:  first,  Lake; 
second,  Randolph;  third,  Madison;  fourth,  Adams;  fifth,  Van  Buren;  sixth,  Harrison;  seventh,  Polk;  eighth. 
Twelfth;  ninth,  Eighteenth;  tenth,  Twenty-second;  eleventh,  Halsted;  twelfth.  Ashland  Avenue;  thirteenth, 
Archer  Avenue.  Over  the  North  Branch,  connecting  the  North  and  West  Divisions,  there  are  eight.  Kin/.ic. 
Erie,  Chicago  Avenue,  Halsted,  Division,  two,  North  Avenue  and  Clybourn  Place.  With  Chicago's  immense 
Lake  commerce,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  over  four  thousand  arrivals  and  departures,  during  the  season, 
nearly  all  of  which  pass  the  Main  River  bridges,  it  is,  if  anything,  strange  that  there  are  not  more  conflicts 


STATE     STREET,     LOOKING     SOUTH     FROM     MONROE. 


between  the  land  and  water  traffic.     Still,  so  complete  is  the  management  of  this  part  of  the  city  service,  that 
there  is  seldom  cause  for  complaint. 


/p3?HICAGO  has  long  borne  the  honor  of  being  the  greatest  primary  grain  market  of  the  world,  her  annual 
^-^  receipts  and  shipments  having  reached  the  vast  total  of  over  100,000,000  bushels.  As  a  necessary 
adjunct  to  such  a  vast  trade,  her  immense  elevators  form  a  conspicuous  feature  in  her  architecture.  Nearly 
the  entire  amount  of  grain  received  and  shipped,  pass  through  these  elevators,  of  which  there  are  between 
twenty-five  and  thirty,  with  an  aggregate  storage  capacity  of  over  twenty  million  bushels.  These  are  located 
mostly  along  the  river  from  its  mouth  to  either  extremity  of  the  city,  and  towering  above  most  of  their 
surroundings,  from  an  elevated  position  are  easily  distinguishable.  Some  of  these  are  immense  and 
massive  structures,  with  a  capacity  for  storing  2,500,000  bushels  of  grain.  Supplementary  to  these 
mammoth  receptacles  of  the  agricultural  products  of  a  large  proportion  of  the  great  West  are 

©HE    SllOG^    '(/AI^DS, 

ICH  enable  Chicago  to  hold  the  same  place  of  superiority  as  a  Live  Stock  and  Provision  Market 
that  she  holds  as  a  grain  market.  THE  UNION  STOCK  YARDS  of  Chicago  are  the  largest  and  in 
all  their  arrangements,  the  most  perfect  of  their  kind  in  tbe  world.  These  Yards  are  located  just  south  of 
the  city  limits,  in  the  town  of  Lake,  the  extension  of  Halsted  Street  south,  forming  the  eastern  line  of  the 
Yards.  They  occupy  343  acres  of  ground,  which  is  admirably  laid  out  and  improved,  for  the  purposes 
to  which  it  is  devoted.  Owing  to  the  character  of  the  ground,  ample  drainage  had  to  be  provided  for. 
This  was  secured  by  a  most  elaborate  system  of  sewerage.  This  was  effected  by  a  large  main  sewer  along 
Halsted  Street,  nearly  a  mile  in  extent,  connecting  with  the  South  Branch  of  the  river,  and  to  which  the 
entire  network  of  sewerage  under  the  Yards  lead.  This  comprises  no  less  than  thirty  miles  of  sewers, 
which  effect  a  most  perfect  drainage,  a  perfectly  dry  and  solid  foundation  for  the  500  cattle  pens,  and 


ClirVKIUllT. 


CHICAGO     RIVER     FROM    WELLS    STREET    BRIDGE,     LOOKING    WEST. 


other  structures  necessary  to  the  successful  transaction  of  the  immense  business  which  centers  here  from  all 
portions  of  the  Great  West.  The  cattle  pens  vary  in  size  from  twenty  by  thirty-five  feet  to  eighty-five  by  one 
hundred  and  twelve  feet,  while  there  are  others  of  the  size  of  a  stock  car  intended  to  receive  a  single  car  load  of 
stock  These  pens  are  all  arranged  on  regular  streets  which  intersect  all  portions  of  the  grounds  at  regular 
intervals,  and  nothing  is  left  undone  that  could  facilitate  and  expedite  the  transaction  of  business.  The 
STOCK  YARDS  constitute  in  themselves  a  distinct  and  well  ordered  community.  They  have  their  bank, 
their  hotel  and  their  own  internal  police.  All  the  principal  western,  southern  and  northern  railroads 
have  their  direct  connections  with  the  YARDS  and  each  has  its  own  facilities  for  unloading  its  stock  with 
the  utmost  convenience  and  expedition,  comprising  1,000  feet  of  platform,  provided  with  "shoots"  leading 
directly  into  the  yards  and  pens  of  the  division  appropriated  to  the  use  of  such  road.  Thus  not  only  may  an 
entire  train  be  unloaded  at  once,  but  a  half  dozen  trains  from  as  many  different  roads  may  be  unloaded  at  the 
same  time.  The  means  are  afforded  for  unloading  or  loading  at  the  same  time  500  cars  of  stock,  comprising 
cattle,  horses,  sheep  and  hogs.  Facilities  for  slaughtering  provided  by  the  principal  packing  houses  are  unsur- 
passed and  unequaled  in  the  world.  Visitors  to  Chicago,  especially  during  the  busy  packing  season,  say 
between  November  and  March,  who  fail  to  visit  the  STOCK  YARDS  and  witness  the  process  of  slaughtering, 
certainly  neglect  one  of  the  most  wonderful,  if  not  most  interesting,  sights  in  the  world. 

©HE    I?AG^ING    BUSINESS, 

S  might  be  inferred  from  the  above,  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  interests  of  the  city.  The  annual  receipts 
of  live  stock  at  the  Yards  average  about  8,000,000  head  of  all  kinds,  of  which  one  million  and  a  quarter 
are  cattle,  six  and  a  half  million,  hogs,  and  the  balance,  sheep.  Of  the  cattle,  about  800000  head  are  slaugh- 
tered and  packed  in  this  city,  while  of  the  hogs  about  5,000.090  are  slaughtered  and  packed  here.  In  the  beef 
packing  and  canning  industry,  which  is  every  year  increasing,  there  are  seven  or  eight  large  establishments 
which  slaughter  and  pack  nearly  the  entire  lot.  This  would  be  at  the  rate  of  over  2.500  head  for  every  work- 
ing day  in  the  year,  but  the  great  bulk  of  this  work  is  done  iu  fall  and  winter  months,  from  November  to 


BEAR    PIT,    LINCOLN    PARK. 


TROPICAL    PLANTS,    SOUTH    PARK. 


March.  Hence  the  slaughter  of  2,000  to  3,000  head  of  cattle  per  day  is  no  unusual  event  in  several  of  the 
larger  establishments,  where  the  business  is  necessarily  reduced  to  a  science,  and  proceeds  with  the  regularity 
of  clockwork.  About  $2,000,000  capital  is  invested  in  this  business,  nearly  3,000  hands  employed,  and  the 
annual  value  of  product  is  nearly  $12,000,000.  The  pork  packing  industry  is  prosecuted  on  a  still  more  gigan- 
tic scale.  Though  the  business  is  carried  on  throughout  the  year,  the  great  bulk  of  the  work  is  done  during 
the  late  fall  and  winter  months,  the  season  being  confined  to  about  100  working  (lays,  during  which  time,  by 
far  the  greatest  proportion  of  the  5,000,009  hogs  are  slaughtered  and  packed.  This  work  is  mostly  done  by 
about  twenty  large  houses,  which  cut  an  average  of  over  30.000  head  each  during  the  100  days  of  the  season. 
The  entire  capacity  of  the  packing  houses  is  86,000  head  per  day,  if  the  hogs  could  be  obtained.  One  house 
has  a  slaughtering  capacity  of  20,000  head  per  day.  The  twenty  houses  referred  to  do  most  of  the  slaughter- 
ing, while  there  are  some  thirty-five  smaller  concerns  which  operate  principally  in  dressed  hogs.  This  indus- 
try employs  about  7,500  hands  during  the  busy  season.  The  annual  value  of  the  product  is  about  $30,000,000. 
These  immense  figures  in  brief  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  wonderful  industry  which  supplements  the 
business  of  the  Union  Stock  Yards. 

Hardly  second  in  importance  to  her  capacious  elevators  for  storing  grain,  or  her  STOCK   YARDS  which 
receive  the  great  bulk  of  the  cattle,  hogs  and  sheep  of  the  stock-raising  regions  of  the  West,  is 

©HIGAGO  SHIPPING. 

7i\HICH  not  only  takes  the  greater  portion  of  this  grain,  provisions,  etc.,  on  its  way  to  the  eastern  markets, 
>•'«•'  but  brings  to  this  wonderful  mart  the  coal,  lumber,  dry  goods,  iron  ores,  and  raw  materials  to  supply  its 
own  wants  and  to  distribute  over  the  western  half  of  this  continent.  As  showing  the  extent  and  importance  of 
this  branch  of  Chicago's  trade,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  arrivals  at  and  departures  from  this  port  exceed  those  of 
New  York,  Boston  and  Baltimore  on  the  Atlantic  coast  combined.  And  yet  so  quietly  has  this  immense  Lake 
traffic  grown  up.  that  it  is  taken  as  a  matter  of  course,  but  rarely  occasioning  more  than  a  passing  remark.  At 


DEARBORN     STREET,     LOOKING     NORTH     FROM     MONROE. 


one  time  it  was  thought  that  the  railroads  would  so  far  absorb  the  carrying  trade  that  the  magnificent  water 
way  formed  by  the  great  chain  of  Lakes,  of  almost  a  thousand  miles  iu  extent  along  our  northern  boundary, 
would  lapse  into  desuetude,  but  the  annual  increase  of  the  carrying  capacity  of  our  shipping,  and  the  great  im- 
provement in  the  character  of  both  steam  and  sailing  vessels  of  late  years,  shows  that  this  great  natural 
highway  of  commerce  will  hold  its  own  against  the  competition  of  the  iron  horse.  Still  though  Chicago 
owes  so  much  to  her  wonderful  shipping  facilities,  she  has  availed  herself  of  all  advantages  of 

•  FjAILif^OADS. 

ONE  of  the  great  contributors  to  Chicago's  growth  and  greatness  is  the  wonderful  system  of  railroads 
that  find  here  their  final  center.  It  would  be  too  great  a  task  for  a  sketch  of  this  kind  to  undertake 
to  particularize  the  various  lines  of  railway  that  concentrate  the  business  of  the  Great  West  at  this  point. 
They  stretch  their  iron  arms  to  Lake  Superior,  Red  River  and  Lake  Winnepeg  on  the  north,  to  the 
headwaters  of  the  M  ssouri,  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory  in  the  northwest,  to  Colorado,  Utah  and 
California  in  the  west,  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Texas  and  Mexico  in  the  southwest,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on 
the  south,  drawing  in  the  business  from  those  distant  points,  and  with  a  wonderful  network  of  supplementary 
arms,  covering  the  whole  country  between  them  and  the  point  of  concentration.  We  may  mention  such 
systems  aa  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern,  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  &  St.  Paul,  the  Chicago,  Burlington  & 
Quincy,  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  &  Pacific,  the  Chicago  &  Alton,  the  Illinois  Central,  each  with  their 
thousands  of  miles  of  track  pouring  their  contributions  of  wealth  Into  Chicago's  lap,  and  again 
distributing  her  manufactures  and  the  goods  of  her  wholesale  and  jobbing  houses.  To  one  who,  from 
an  elevated  position  over  the  center  of  the  city,  could  take  in  at  a  glance  the  miles  of  moving  trains  coming  in 
and  going  out,  in  every  direction,  all  laden  to  their  utmost  capacity,  the  sight  would  be  a  wonderful  and 
bewildering  one.  Not  only  has  Chicago  achieved  the  proud  reputation  of  the  greatest  grain  market  iu  the 
world,  but  she  is  equally  pre-eminent  as  a  provision  market.  Her  trade  ia  cattle  and  hogs,  and  packing  of  beef 


ADAMS    STREET,    LOOKING    EAST    FROM    ABERDEEN. 


and  pork  have  no  counterpart  in  the  world.  The  cattle  of  Texas,  Colorado,  Montana,  Kansas,  Nebraska  and 
Iowa  are  gathered  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  the  hogs  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  beyond,  by  the 
million,  to  rind  their  way,  over  the  almost  countless  iron  tracks,  to  this  great  mart.  These  are  some  of  the 
wonderful  results  of  the  railroads,  which  center  in  Chicago,  and  find  their  greatest  profit  in  ministering  to  her 
commercial  greatness. 

One  of  the  most  important  adjuncts  to  a  great  city  is  its 

FOOTED    flGGOMMODAIIIONS. 

TN  this  respect  as  in  so  many  others,  Chicago  stands  pre-eminent.  Her  great  caravansaries  are  unsurpassed 
^  in  extent,  magnificence  and  accommodations.  Her  principal  hotels  are  palatial  in  size,  architecture, 
design  and  finish,  while  the  style  in  which  they  are  kept  would  do  credit  to  ihe  oldest  and  most  enlightened 
cities  of  the  world.  Within  the  space  of  a  few  blocks  in  the  business  center  of  the  city  may  be  found  a  half 
dozen  hotels  with  the  most  elegant  accommodations  for  thousands  of  guests,  some  of  them  covering  almost 
entire  blocks,  and  yet,  notwithstanding  their  size,  finished  and  furnished  in  a  style  of  magnificence  seldom 
equaled  and  never  surpassed.  They  invite  the  attention  and  command  the  admiration  of  the  intelligent  and 
the  refined  as  well  as  the  wealthy  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  whether  on  missions  of  business,  pleasure 
or  observation.  Even  royalty  itself  has  not  unfrequently  had  occasion  to  marvel  at  the  magnificence 
of  Chicago  Hotels.  We  need  not  boast  of  these  really  wonderful  structures.  They  are  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  western  commercial  greatness,  and  western  enterprise,  coupled  with  an  intelligent  appre- 
ciation'of  the  "eternal  fitness  of  things,"  which  here  finds  its  culmination.  In  addition  to  the  great 
Hotels  above  referred  to.  there  are  hundreds  of  smaller  and  less  pretentious  Hotels  whose  accommodations 
are  in  every  respect  first-class,  and  which  in  cities  less  amply  and  munificently  provided  for,  would  be 
considered  at  the  head  of  their  class. 

Naturally  in  this  connection  should  come  in  a  few  words  in  reference  to  Chicago  as  a  summer  resort. 


UOFXRIUHT. 


JACKSON  STREET,  LOOKING  EAST  FROM  LA  SALLE. 


(0HIGAGO   AS   A   SUMMED 

!  O  people  looking  for  wild  haunts  of  Nature,  mountain  fastnesses  and  rural  quiet,  Chicago,  of  course,  could 
not  be  recommended,  but  to  the  more  active  seekers  of  pleasure,  who  can  appreciate  a  cool  and  salubrious 
atmosphere,  even  in  the  midst  of  business  activity,  no  seaport  offers  more  varied  attractions.  As  a  general 
thing,  during  the  hottest  days  of  summer,  Chicago  enjoys  a  wonderful  immunity  from  the  sultry,  enervating 
days  and  nights  which  the  denizens  of  most  cities  and  towns,  even  on  the  sea  coast,  are  so  anxious  to  escape 
from. 

From  observations  carried  on  for  a  series  of  years,  it  has  been  definitely  ascertained  that  the  tempera- 
ture of  Chicago  averages  at  least  twenty  degrees  below  that  of  Boston,  New  York,  Long  Branch,  Newport, 
Saratoga,  Cincinnati,  etc.,  all  through  the  hottest  portion  of  the  summer.  The  palatial  hotels  afford  the  most 
luxurious  accommodations,  while  the  Parks  and  Boulevards  offer  the  rarest  attractions  for  drives  and  rural 
recreations.  The  magnflcent  Lake  Shore  Drive  to  and  through  Lincoln  Park  is  always  cool  and  breezy,  while 
the  dancing  blue  waters  of  the  Lake  bear  health  and  invigoration  on  every  wavelet.  A  drive  down  Michigan 
Avenue  Boulevard  from  the  very  heart  of  the  city  to  Grand  Boulevard,  to  South  Park,  back  through  the 
ever-changing  sights  of  Drexel  and  Oakwood  Boulevards  in  the  cool  of  the  early  evening  can  hardly 
fail  of  infusing  new  life,  buoyancy  and  energy  to  the  most  tired  and  languid  frame.  And  a  different 
excursion  of  almost  equal  inspiration  may  be  enjoyed  every  day  in  the  week.  Of  course  Chicago 
makes  no  special  claim  as  a  summer  resort,  nor  have  her  citizens  made  any  move  to  secure  recognition 
as  such.  Her  forte  is  business,  and  yet,  even  business  in  Chicago  has  its  aesthetic  side,  and  the 
above  hints  are  thrown  out  merely  that  our  neighbors  may  know  that  while  seeking  respite  from  the  enervation 
of  sweltering  offices,  counting  rooms  and  stores,  during  the  "heated  term,"  they  can  "kill  two  birds  with  one 
stone,"  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  cool  and  healthy  resort,  and  at  the  same  time  draw  inspiration  from  the 
tireless  rush  of  commercial  traffic  in  the  greatest  mart  of  the  world  —  literally,  which  "they  are  in,  but 
not  of." 


UUl'YKltrilT. 


LAKE     SHORE     DRIVE,     LINCOLN     PARK. 


SCHOOLS   AND 

TT  is  vastly  to  the  credit  of  the  people  of  Chicago  that  in  the  midst  of  an  absorbing,  rushing  business  life 
*  they  have  not  forgotten  the  demands  of  moral  and  intellectual  culture.  Few  cities  have  done  more 
for  the  cause  of  education  than  Chic  igo.  Her  schools  and  school-houses  are  models  of  their  kind.  Being 
among  the  first  cities  to  adopt  the  free  graded  school  system,  she  has  never  lost  sight  of  the  importance  of 
keeping  the  cause  and  interest  of  education  fully  abreast  of  the  most  favored  department  of  her  internal 
economy.  Ample  provision  has  been  made  for  giving  her  youth  of  both  sexes  a  complete  common  school 
education.  And  not  only  that,  but  for  affording  to  all  who  are  disposed  to  avail  themselves  of  its  enlightened 
liberality,  the  means  of  acquiring  a  fair  academic  training,  and  laying  ample  foundations  for  a  successful 
business  life,  or  for  the  subsequent  scholastic  course  for  professional  callings.  The  school-houses  of  Chicago, 
which  now  number  between  sixty-five  and  seventy,  have  long  been  the  admiration,  and  almost  wonder,  of 
strangers  and  visitors.  They  are  capacious  and  even  elegant  structures,  architecturally,  and  finished  and 
furnished  in  the  most  attractive  style,  with  all  the  modern  aids  and  incentives  to  pupils.  While  Chicago  is  not 
generally  spoken  of  as  "  a  city  of  churches,"  Mammon  has  by  no  means  been  allowed  to  absorb  the  entire  atten- 
tion of  its  people.  Nor  has  the  building  up  of  its  miles  of  business  blocks,  for  the  accommodation  of  trade 
and  commerce  diverted  attention  entirely  from  the  things  pertaining  to  the  world  to  come.  The  spires  of 
some  265  churches  pointing  heavenward  remind  the  busy  denizens  of  the  great  metropolis  that  however  deep  they 
may  lay  their  foundations  here — however  solidly  and  massively  they  may  build  their  business  structures,  their 
permanent  abiding  place  is  not  here.  The  church  architecture  of  Chicago  will  compare  favorably  with  that 
of  any  other  city  in  the  country. 

<S>OMMEF?GE. 

ICAGO  is  essentially  a  commercial  emporium  —  the  commercial  metropolis  of  the  great  central  portion 
of  the  country,  sometimes  designated   the  "Valley  of  the  Mississippi,"  stretching  from  the  British 
Possessions  on  the  north  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  and  Mexico  on  the  south,  and  from  the  Alleghenies  on  the 


COPYRIGHT. 


PINE    STREET,    LOOKING    NORTH    FROM    HURON. 


east  to  the  foot  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west  —  an  empire  in  extent  —  covering  the  entire  temperate  zone, 
and  reaching  well  into  the  tropics,  latitudinally,  and  comprising  more  than  a  thousand  miles  in  extent  longitudin- 
ally. This  immense  region  has  been  termed  "the  garden  of  America,"  and  for  fertility  and  productiveness  of  soil 
throughout  its  wonderful  extent,  has  no  counterpart  in  the  world.  We  have  already  referred  to  the  railroads  and 
the  shipping  which  are  the  servants  and  tributors  to  Chicago's  commercial  greatness.  Of  the  total  railroad 
mileage  of  the  United  States  —  nearly  110,000  miles  —  one-third  is  tributary  to  Chicago,  and  is  operated  mainly 
with  reference  to  Chicago  as  their  entrepot  of  western  produce,  and  depot  of  supply  for  merchandise  and 
manufactured  goods.  Nearly  the  entire  amount  of  breadstuffs  and  provisions,  constituting  over  54 
per  cent,  of  the  total  exports  of  domestic  merchandise  of  the  whole  country,  finds  its  way  to  the  sea- 
board from  Chicago.  A  few  years  hence,  when_  her  population  shall  have  reached  the  coveted  MILLION, 
and  beyond,  it  will  be  found  that  the  proportion  of  population  to  its  trade  and  commerce  is  still  less  than  at 
the  present  time. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  growth  of  Chicago's  population,  commerce  and  wealth,  are  her 


INTERESTS. 

/^HESE  form  the  anchor  to  a  city's  as  well  as  a  nation's  growth  and  prosperity.  The  course  of  trade  may 
^-^  change,  crops  may  fail,  and  the  profits  of  commercial  traffic  may  decline,  but  the  productive  industries  of 
a  people  will  always  fill  the  gap  of  those  contingencies.  While  trade  and  commerce  levy  contributions  on  the 
world's  industries  passing  through  its  hands,  manufacturing  industries  create  wealth  to  add  to  the  world's  store. 
And  in  this  respect  Chicago  stands  as  almost  the  wonder  of  the  world.  The  youngest  by  almost  a  half  century 
of  the  great  cities  of  the  country,  she  to-day  stands  third  in  the  amount  of  capital  invested  in  the  productive 
industries,  in  the  number  of  hands  employed,  in  the  amount  of  wages  paid,  in  the  value  of  raw  material  con- 
sumed, and  in  the  annual  value  of  commodities  produced.  Proud  as  her  citizens  may  feel  over  her  growth 
in  population,  in  the  vastness  of  her  commerce,  they  have  still  greater  cause  for  pride  in  the  wonderful 


COPYRIGHT. 


MADISON     STREET,    LOOKING    EAST    FROM     CLARK. 


growth  of  her  manufacturing  industries.  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  both  comparatively  old  cities 
when  Chicago  first  sprang  into  existence  as  a  village  on  the  inarsh,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  that 
name,  now  alone  surpass  her  m  the  extent  and  value  of  industrial  production.  Twenty  years  ago  she  could 
hardly  boast  a  live,  prosperous  manufacturing  establishment,  and  the  products  of  her  mechanics  and  artisans 
were  confined  to  a  mere  local  traffic.  To-day  she  has  nearly  four  thousand  establishments,  representing  an 
invested  capital  of  $05,000,000,  and  giving  profitable  employment  to  nearly  80,000  workmen,  whose  products 
are  current  in  every  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  thus  almost  every  civilized  as  well  as  half-civilized  country  on 
the  face  of  the  earth,  are  contributing  more  or  less  to  the  wealth  of  her  citizens  and  to  her  own  greatness. 
These  manufacturing  establishments  are  paying  annually,  in  wages,  to  citizens  of  Chicago,  nearly  $35,000,000. 
They  consume  annually  about  $175,000,000  worth  of  raw  material,  gathered  here  from  all  portions  of  the 
country.  The  transportation  of  this  immense  volume  of  material  furnishes  in  turn  business  for  our  railroads, 
and  its  provision  furnishes  employment  to  thousands  of  people  in  other  and  distant  sections,  and  thus  Chicago 
becomes  the  distributor  as  well  as  the  gleaner  and  collector  of  wealth:  The  capital  invested  and  the  labor 
employed,  and  the  raw  material  consumed  result  in  the  product  of  an  annual  value  of  nearly  $230,000,000. 

We  have  hitherto  spoken  of  Chicago  as  though  it  had  had  an  unbroken  course  of  prosperity,  and  really  the 
visitor  of  to-day  would  hardly  suspect  that  such  was  not  the  case.  There  are  few  evidences  remaining  of  a 
fearful  devastation  having,  at  no  distant  day,  swept  over  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  now  presenting  so 
compact  and  unbroken  an  appearance  of  thrift  and  enterprise.  But  such  has  been  its  experience,  and  a  sketch 
of  Chicago  would  be  incomplete  that  left  out  a  reference  to  the  great 

0?ON  FLAG  RATION   OH   18Z1. 

E  latter  part  of  September,  1871,  had  been  dry  and  hot,  and  for  many  days  m  succession,  a  warm  wind 
from  the  southwest  had  swept  over  the  city,  sucking  the  moisture  from  everything  capable  of  drying,  and 
thus  preparing  the  conditions  for  the  awful  calamity  that  was  to  follow.      Still  the  usual  sound  of  a  mighty 


UNION     STOCK    YARDS. 


traffic  went  on,  and  few,  probably,  thought  of  the  possibilities  which  the  long  dry  spell  had  provided  for, 
though  many  marveled  at  the  unseasonable  drouth  and  heat  of  the  weather.  At  length  the  entire  city  was  like 
a  tinder  box.  and  not  a  few  remarked,  "  It  would  be  a  bad  time  for  a  fire."  As  a  sort  of  prelude  to  the  awful 
finale,  there  had  been  quite  an  extensive  fire  during  Saturday  night,  October  7,  burning  over  several  acres  of 
ground  in  what  was  then  called  the  southwestern  portion  of  the  city,  covered  mostly  with  small  frame 
buildings,  lumber  yards,  etc.,  lying  principally  between  Jefferson  and  Canal  Streets  east  and  west,  and  Adams 
and  Van  Buren  Streets  north  and  south.  This  was  spoken  of  by  the  Sunday  morning  papers  as  the  most 
destructive  fire  that  had  visited  the  city  for  several  years,  but  its  importance  was  entirely  lost  sight  of  in  the 
overwhelming  catastrophe  that  followed  so  soon  in  its  wake. 

Sunday  evening,  soon  after  nine  o'clock,  the  alarm  of  fire  was  sounded  from  the  great  bell  in  the  Court 
House  tower,  which  had  hitherto  served  the  purpose  of  notifying  the  entire  city  of  a  fire  in  any  portion  within 
its  limits.  Thousands  had  visited  the  scene  of  Saturday  night's  conflagration  during  the  Sunday  following, 
and  when  the  alarm  rang  out,  indicating  the  same  locality,  it  was  very  generally  supposed  that  the  still  smoul- 
dering ruins  had  broken  out  again,  and  therefore  paid  little  attention  to  the  alarm  at  first.  But  soon  the  great 
bell  was  sounding  the  general  alarm,  and  the  weird  and  solemn  tones  went  hurtling  on  the  heated  atmosphere 
to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  city.  The  denizens  of  the  more  remote  quarters,  though  they  saw  the  lurid  glare 
on  the  sky,  still  thought  the  fire  must  soon  be  extinguished,  and  attributed  the  delay  in  its  extinction  to 
the  somewhat  demoralized  condition  of  the  firemen  from  the  previous  night's  labors.  The  wind  was  blowing  a 
stroug,  hot  gale  from  the  southwest,  and  the  dry  and  combustible  material  in  the  immediate  locality  in  which 
the  fire  had  originated  was  eagerly  licked  up  by  the  devouring  element,  and  it  was  soon  apparent  that  the  fire 
department  was  powerless  before  it.  But  still  the  fight  was  kept  up  from  block  to  block,  until  two  of  the 
largest  engines  were  surrounded  and  had  to  be  sacrificed  to  the  flames,  the  firemen  with  difficulty  saving  them- 
selves. Although  having  started  nearly  a  mile  from  the  river  in  the  direction  of  the  fire,  it  was  comparatively 
but  a  short  time  before  the  flames  had  leapt  that  feeble  barrier  and  commenced  their  work  of  destruction 


CHICAGO    TROTTING     PARK. 


in  the  South  Division.  Then  it  was  that  the  panic  actually  commenced.  The  business  portion  of  the 
city,  the1  Court  House,  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  Post  Office,  Custom  House  and  all  the  great  hotels 
lay  in  the  direct  course  of  the  flames,  which  it  was  evident  no  human  power  could  stay.  South,  west 
and  north  the  struggling  masses  of  humanity  were  fleeing  for  their  lives.  The  air  soon  became  heated  to 
the  intensity  of  a  furnace,  and  the  thick  walls  of  immense  stone  and  brick  structures,  nominally  fire  proof, 
actually  began  to  crumble  and  melt  in  the  fervid  heat  before  the  flames  reached  them.  Across  the  main  river, 
on  the  North  Side,  directly  in  the  central  path  of  the  fierce  flames,  stood  the  Water  Works,  and  long  before  the 
intervening  material  had  been  consumed,  they  were  on  fire,  and  ths  water  supply  of  the  entire  city  thus  cut  off. 
Soon  after  the  Gas  Works  on  the  North  Side  were  reached,  and  the  North  and  South  Sides  of  the  city  were 
left  in  darkness,  save  the  glare  from  the  burning  city.  And  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note,  that  even  that  was  far 
less  than  is  seen  from  many  a  smaller  conflagration.  Entire  blocks  seemed  to  crumble  and  shrivel  away  in  the 
intense  heat  with  little  flame.  Southward  the  flames  made  little  progress,  and  westward  none  at  all.  South  of 
a  line  drawn  from  the  origin  of  the  fire  northeasterly  through  to  the  Lake  Shore  hardly  a  block  was  burned. 
But  to  the  northeast  and  north  the  flames  were  only  stayed  when  the  city  limits  and  Lake  were  reached  and 
there  was  no  more  material  to  feed  them. 

We  need  not  dwell  on  the  horrors  of  that  Sunday  night  and  Monday.  Thousands  of  business  men  resid- 
ing in  the  southern  and  western  portions  of  the  city,  started  for  their  places  of  business  entirely  unaware  that 
they  had  been  swept  by  the  "besom  of  destruction"  while  they  slept.  Monday  night,  October  9th,  100,000 
citizens  of  Chicago  were  homeless,  while  the  business  and  property  of  as  many  more  had  been  completely 
swept  away.  A  district  nearly  four  miles  in  length  by  one  in  width,  on  which  had  stood  18,000  buildings, 
public  and  private,  and  comprising  the  entire  business  portion  of  the  city,  was  covered  by  an  unsightly  mass  of 
ruins,  debris  and  ashes.  The  direct  money  loss  involved  in  the  destruction  was  estimated  at  $192,000,000. 
That  was  certainly  not  an  extravagant  estimate.  The  indirect  damage  resulting  to  the  city  and  its  people  was 
placed  at  $100, 000, 000,  making  a  total  of  $290,000,000!  It  is  not  strange  that  many  outsiders  who  knew  not 


THE    GREAT    FIRE,    OCTOBER    9,     1871. 


what  stuff  Chicago  business  men  were  made  of,  thought  and  even  said  that  Chicago  had  received  its  death 
blow,  and  must  thereafter  content  itself  with  the  position  of  a  provincial  Lake  shore  town.  We  doubt  if  there 
was  one  business  man  out  of  a  thousand  of  those  who  had  lost  their  all  who  even  for  a  moment  lost  heart  or 
hesitated  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued.  A  few  days  were  necessary  to  compare  notes  and  find  out  how  others 
felt.  Many,  however,  did  not  wait  for  consultation,  but  while  the  ruins  were  still  hot,  commenced  clearing 
away  the  d(5bris  preparatory  to  rebuilding.  We  need  not  recount  how  the  world  responded  to  the  promptings 
of  a  common  humanity,  nor  how  every  available  means  of  transportation  was  taxed  to  convey  to  the  stricken 
city  the  offerings  of  a  sympathetic  world.  But  this  was  only  for  a  few  days.  Every  available  facility  in 
various  portions  of  the  city  was  utilized  to  set  the  wheels  of  business  running,  and  in  the  meantime  the 
work  of  rebuilding  had  commenced  in  earnest.  The  miles  upon  miles  of  iron,  stone  and  brick  structures  that 
now  line  the  streets  of  the  business  portion  of  the  city  testify  to  the  wonderful  recuperative  energy  of  Chicago 
business  men.  It  is  hard  to  convince  the  visitor  of  to-day  that  but  little  over  ten  short  years  ago  this  entire 
business  area,  with  its  miles  of  business  blocks,  was  a  barren  waste  of  ashes  and  unsightly  debris,  with  here 
and  there  portions  of  crumbling  walls  to  emphasize  tha  completeness  of  the  work  of  destruction. 


.   .: 


